Introduction

As discussed in the Section "Clan Diaspora"
and the accompanying paper "The Gin
Clan in the Pacific Rim", the support of the Clan to "new
chums" arriving in a new country or about to commence a new venture, cannot
be underestimated. Clan members share the surname and are all related to a
common ancestor. By way of example and further elaboration on Clan
Heritage matters, in this page we explore in greater depth the Chin/Gin Clan (甄).
The author of this page is the 27th Generation of the Gin Clan Ancestor, Gin Sun
Hall.

Most of the material contained in here comes from the Gin Clan, which is flourishing
in places as diverse as the USA, South East Asia, Australia, New Zealand, the
Americas. Specifically the information is extracted from the research of
Albert Gene, Harry Gin, James Gin, Wing Kuon Gin, Yun Hoi Yan, Wing Wei Yan,
Robert Chin and other researches of the Gin Sun Hall Associations around the
world.

甄

Origin of the Gin

Extracted from a 1997 publication produced by the "Gin Sun
Hall Benevolent Association" of San Francisco, California, USA, in
celebration of its 60 Anniversary.

"The Gin Surname is believed to have derived from an
ancient Chinese governmental designation, which was used to designate the
occupation of a "potter", one who crafts earthenware."

The transliteration of the Chinese Surname (甄) includes:
Gin, Ginn, Gean, Gen, Gene, Jen, Jin, Ying, Yan, Zhen, and Chin. As with
any transliteration, variations can be quite many.

The "Sun Hall News", a Clan Magazine published by the
Gin Sun Hall Association, Kaiping, People's Republic of China identified the
ancestor of all Gins as Gin Shen, whose ancestral home was in the Hebei
province.

Who was Gin Sun Hall

"Gin Sun Hall is the name of our common ancestor who lived
in the 13th century A.D. Gin Sun Hall's grandfather, Gin Shing Hing came
to Nam Hong county in northern Guangdong Province from Northern China, as he was
appointed the government official for the area."

"Later for various reasons which remain unclear, but
believed to be the result of dissent of the locals to imperial decrees and it
was also rumoured that one of the emperor's concubine disappeared near Nam
Hong. The Sze Yap (SiYi) people living in the area of Nam Hong County,
including the Gin clan, had to flee to avoid being persecuted by the
Emperor. Many Gins as well as other surnames changed their names to avoid
Imperia detection. This may account for the reason why today the Gin
surname is small in numbers compared to other surnames."

Where are they now?

At the Inaugural Gin Clan World Conference held in November
2005, at Kaiping, PRC, some 700 Gins and their friends and relatives attended
the meeting. From the attendance list, it was clear that Gins
can virtually be found in all continents of the world. The most populous
concentration appears to be California. There was a proud contingent of
Gins from the original Gin Homeland of Wuji, Hebei (河北). It is
interesting to note that according to wikipedia,
"Plains in Hebei were the home of Peking man". Thus, the Gins
have a proud history with links to the Great Plains of China.

Tracing the Gin Lineage

At a later date, it is our intention to further add to this
section, so that interested scholars can see how one can trace one lineage.
But meanwhile, we share with readers the Generation Number, Generation Name and
names of a particular line associated with the Shek Hoi ( 石海) village.

For interest, we attach the Gin Clan
Generation Names, based on a photograph taken by Robert Chin, of a notice
board located in the Doh Dat High School, Kaiping. (Note: The High
School enjoys the support of overseas Gins/Chins with roots traced back to this
region of China. Robert Chin visited Kaiping, China, in 1997, in search of his
roots.)

In all, for the Gin Clan, as far as we are aware, there are
at least 4 "Sub Heung" or Main villages. The 4 "Sub Heung"
are:

1. 石海鄉 / Shek Hoi Heung

2. 霞坑鄉 / Har Hang Heung

3. 勒沖鄉 / Lak Chung Heung

4. 旺北鄉 / Wong Pak Heung

Each "Sub Heung" has its own Generation Name list, as displayed in the photo
below. More on the topic of Gin Generation Names will be discussed at a later
date.